


Midnight Strikes Twice

by Cry3TearsLikeJ3T



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cry3TearsLikeJ3T/pseuds/Cry3TearsLikeJ3T
Summary: Gray works at an ice rink and is crushing on Lyon but would rather die than let him know. But when New Years Eve rolls around and a night of skating with his friends leads to a confrontation of his feelings and with his crush himself, things get interesting.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Lyon Vastia, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Midnight Strikes Twice

The sound of the same poppy song playing for the fifth time in a row was merely background fuzz to Gray by the time 11pm rolled around. He was sitting at that same reception desk, clicking aimlessly through emails, head resting lazily in his hand. He was so close to falling asleep then and there but was fortunately awoken by the touch of somebody’s hand on his shoulder, which did the job of jolting him awake. He shot up straight in his chair as he looked up at the kind and expectant blue eyes of Juvia, his colleague at the ice rink.

“Oh, hey Juvia,” Gray greeted as Juvia removed her hand, a smile on her face.

“Hello Gray, I was just stopping by to let you know I’m going home now, oh and there’s also still a couple young girls out on the rink before you can lock up,” Juvia explained, and Gray nodded, glancing over at the clock hanging above the entrance, which read 10pm because it was always an hour wrong for reasons unknown. He hadn’t even realised it was nearly closing time.

“Alright, thanks for letting me know,” Gray said, and while he’d felt it was the end of the conversation, Juvia still stood there with that expectant look in her eyes.

“Um is there something else you need?” Juvia jumped ever so slightly, as if she hadn’t realised she’d been staring.

“Oh um no, I just wanted to say, I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Eve,” Juvia said, playing with her hands and dropping her gaze.

“Thanks Juvia, same to you, got anything planned?” Gray replied, and Juvia nodded, her head snapping back up.

“Yes actually, a friend of mine invited me over to a little party she’s throwing, what about you?”

“Sounds good but I actually managed to pull some strings after all the overtime I’ve pulled and so some friends are coming over here and we’re just gonna catch up and skate,” Gray said, and Juvia seemed relieved to hear this, a small smile spreading on her face once more.

“That’s good to hear…” She looked at the clock. “…But I suppose I should get going if I’m going to make it in time.”

“Probably but before you go, it’s been nice working with you this year, hope to see you next year,” Gray said, a smile of his own appearing, which seemed to brighten Juvia’s mood significantly before she waved and left the building.

Once she was gone, Gray sighed, but not out of irritation. This was a sigh from exhaustion. It really had been a hectic year considering he hadn’t expected to graduate from high school just to end up working at the city’s local ice rink almost every day and night just to barely get by. And there were only very few perks to that job. One being the fact he could use the rink as much as he desired after hours, without the fear of being mocked by stupid teenagers. 

Another perk had been Juvia. She was a very kind and complex girl, who was certainly going through her own emotional journey and trying to find her place after she too graduated high school at the top of her swim club, only to discover that it was a far more competitive and exhausting world that awaited her. And while there had been some trouble after she’d developed a very obvious crush on Gray, who simply didn’t reciprocate, but they’d worked that all out for the most part, with Juvia clearly trying her best to repress her feelings and move on. And now, the final perk, the reason Gray couldn’t reciprocate Juvia’s feelings, which went by the name of Lyon Vastia.

Lyon worked alongside Gray and while he was only one year older than Gray, he carried the air of somebody with much more experience and a far more level head than any nineteen year old should have. He was simply beautiful with those dark eyes and silver hair. Gray had been completely helpless. Though he’d done his best to hide this through their friendly rivalry they’d developed ever since Gray had first watched Lyon skate, coming up with the excuse that he was only watching to critique and judge, stating that he could skate circles around the older boy any day. And that one lie had become one hole Gray could never dig himself out of.

“Gray?” A voice said, snapping Gray out of his thoughts.

It took him a moment to focus his eyes and realise that Lyon himself was standing on the other side of the desk, two familiar young girls by his side. Wendy and Chelia. 

“Oh hey, sorry, I kinda zoned out there…is everything ok?” Gray questioned, and Lyon smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.

“This is precisely why you’ll never surpass me Gray, you’re far too caught up in your own head,” Lyon remarked, though Gray simply rolled his eyes. This wasn’t anything new.

“Sure Lyon, whatever helps you sleep at night, but if you don’t mind, could you tell me what you actually came here for? I’m sure Wendy and Chelia would like to leave before they’re old enough to work here,” Gray said, though this only seemed to amuse Lyon before he spoke.

“I suppose I don’t have a choice then, so Gray, I’m here because Wendy and Chelia have been standing here for the past five minutes waiting to return their skates because you were having a few moments to yourself apparently, so I offered to help them out with this problem on my way out.” And Gray felt like an idiot. He never had a leg to stand on from the moment he snapped back to reality.

“Oh, right, sorry about that girls, I’ll help you out and let you leave,” Gray said, scratching the back of his head out of embarrassment.

After that, Gray got to work on returning the skates as Lyon said goodbye in a way that was far too smug for Gray’s liking. Once that was done though, Gray felt a weight life off of his shoulders as the two girls, who often visited together on weekends, waved goodbye and left the building.

And after that altercation, Gray didn’t have to wait long for his friends to arrive and come marching up to his desk in one big, loud group. 

“Hey Gray!” Lucy greeted, waving to the dark haired boy with her free arm, her other one wrapped around Natsu’s, who was her now six month long boyfriend.

The rest of the group consisted of more high school friends, such as Erza Scarlett, Sting Eucliffe, his mysterious new boyfriend, Rogue Cheney, and surprisingly, Jellal Fernandes, who had once been the president of the school council alongside Erza and was now her very recent boyfriend. What his friends did now exactly however was a mystery to Gray as it had been tough keeping in contact with them all during their agreed upon gap year before college or other life plans.

“Hey guys, give me five minutes to change and I’ll meet you at the rink, just grab your skates from the shelves back here,” Gray said as his friends approached and he stood up from his seat, racing off to the back room to grab his spare pair of clothes.

It didn’t take him long to change and grab his personal pair of ice skates, as opposed to the shitty communal ones.

He then made his way to the rink where he found his friends waiting for him by the entrance onto the ice.

“Hey Gray, tell me again how you pulled this off?” Natsu questioned as he stood resting against the rink wall, clearly trying his best to keep his balance, which spelled trouble for later considering they weren’t even on the ice yet.

“I worked my ass off is how, I think I put in more overtime in a year than anybody else has since this place opened, so yeah, the guy owed me this much,” Gray explained as he took a seat on one of the benches and began lacing up his skates.

“My boss would never let me have this kind of thing,” Natsu muttered, which earned him a small giggle from Lucy.

“You work at Walmart, what would you possibly need the store for?” She asked, but Natsu shook his head.

“Not anymore I don’t, I got a job at that theme park that just opened.” And while this clearly troubled Lucy and most of the group, Sting laughed.

“Seriously? How’d you get fired this time?”

“Apparently it isn’t “appropriate behaviour” to use the shopping cart for racing,” Natsu explained, and this only made Sting laugh harder. He’d always been a fan of Natsu’s natural talent for creating chaos.

And while Sting laughed, Erza didn’t find this to be amusing in the slightest as she sighed.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, you’re never going to have a stable life if you keep acting like a child Natsu and anyway, don’t you get motion sick? Why choose a job there?” Erza said, but Natsu simply shrugged, and then Gray took the moment of silence to jump in as he stood up and approached the group.

“So what else has everyone been doing this year?”

“Well I’ve been working in that book store at the mall with Levy, Jellal’s actually our manager,” Lucy explained, and while Gray wasn’t surprised to hear this considering Lucy’s love of books and writing, he was _definitely_ surprised to hear about Jellal’s occupation. He’d never expected somebody as smart and grown up as him to be working somewhere so mundane.

“And I’m working at that fantastic cake shop in the mall, I really think I’ve found somewhere I can express my talent for baking,” Erza stated, her eyes shining, though Gray felt sorry for the unlucky customer who had to eat the odd cake that came out a little off considering Erza’s incredibly hit or miss baking reputation. Though something amusing did occur to Gray as he realised that the cake shop was directly across from the book shop, telling him that perhaps Jellal’s job wasn’t so random as he’d thought.

“I’ve been working at the Sports Direct on the top floor of the mall, it’s pretty easy stuff so I don’t mind it, oh and Rogue here works at the Ho-” Sting never finished his sentence as Rogue nudged him, shooting him a warning look. And while he never got to reveal the store name, it was pretty obvious to Gray considering they’d heard the first two letters and that combined with Rogue’s long black fringe gave everything away.

“Sounds like everyone’s doing good then, so with that over and done with, wanna get on the ice?” Gray suggested, and most of the group eagerly agreed while a few, such as Natsu, Jellal and Rogue, grimaced at the idea. 

Once on the ice, Gray felt like he was home as he effortlessly glided across to the centre of the rink. He’d then turned to look at this friends and had to stifle a laugh at the sight before him. Natsu was already flat on his ass, Lucy trying her best to help him up without losing her own balance, and beside them was Rogue, who was clinging to Sting’s arm for dear life as the blonde slowly skated out of the way of the entrance. Finally there was Jellal and Erza, who were managing well enough as they held hands, especially considering Gray had seen Erza’s lack of skating abilities before.

Gray decided then to let his friend get to grips by themselves before he skated off, already completing a few laps before they all managed to get to grips with the ice and were off. Though once the hilarity of their bumpy starts was over, Gray immediately felt that same lonely pit open up in his chest, noticing that he was the only one without a partner. He almost wished for a second that he’d asked Juvia to stay, just so he wouldn’t be alone. However he was quick to toss the thought away as he realised how unfair that was on the kind girl considering her feelings.

Fortunately, he wasn’t left to suffer for too long as Lucy soon skated up to him, a shaky Natsu in tow, their hands gripping each other’s tightly.

“Hey loner, why the long face?” Lucy greeted as Gray stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets.

“This is just my face.”

“Yeah because you’re always down when I see you, what your actual face looks like is a mystery,” Lucy said with a playful smile on her face, and Gray was sure that Natsu would’ve made a comment if he wasn’t too busy trying not to slip over.

“Well maybe it’s because I work a really shitty job,” Gray shot back, hoping to deflect Lucy’s questions until she changed topics because he _really_ didn’t want to make his friends feel bad for simply being in a relationship.

“Maybe but if it was really that bad I doubt you’d choose to work all that overtime, which leads me to believe that there’s something special about this place,” Lucy countered, and it was then that Gray was reminded of the blonde’s superior intelligence.

“Well I guess I like being able to use the rink for fre-”

“Nope, nice try Gray, but I know a crush when I see one.” 

Natsu let out a laugh before he wobbled dangerously enough for him to cling to Lucy’s arm for support.

“You were saying Natsu?” Gray teased, a playful smirk on his face, which in turn brought on a scowl from Natsu.

“He’s right Natsu, you shouldn’t laugh, I think it’s really cute that you’re sticking around so much for somebody,” Lucy said, which only seemed to dampen the pink haired boy’s mood, seeing his girlfriend take his rival’s side.

“What’s so cute about liking somebody? It’s just a thing that happens,” Natsu questioned, and Gray raised an eyebrow.

“Weren’t you just laughing? So what’s there to laugh about if it’s “just a thing that happens”?”

“It’s funny because the thought of somebody who likes brooding as much as you getting all embarrassed is the last thing anybody would think of happening,” Natsu explained, though Gray still didn’t see how it was that amusing.

“So, who’s the lucky person?” Lucy cut in, and Gray sighed.

“Just a guy I like to watch skate, who also happens to work here with me.”

“Aww that’s so sweet, I mean he really must be something if _you’re_ impressed by his skating, like you’re the best skater I know,” Lucy gushed, and Gray rolled his eyes.

“I’m the only skater you know.”

“Maybe but that’s not the point, the point is that you’re amazing and so this guy must be special if he impressed you so much that you fell in love with him.”

“Yeah well it’s not gonna be anything more, ok? I screwed it up the day I made him think I just wanted to compete against him,” Gray explained, though this didn’t seem to deter Lucy in the slightest.

“That’s just a minor setback, I mean, surely if you just tell him the truth, he’ll understand and confess back to you because who knows, maybe he’s just been playing along so he can spend time with you,” Lucy suggested, and while Gray certainly hadn’t ever considered that possibility, he didn’t like to give himself false hope. There was just no way that Lyon liked him back, he was just too good for Gray.

“That’s a nice thought Lucy but I’d rather just accept defeat and move on if I can,” Gray said before skating on ahead, knowing that Lucy wouldn’t stand a chance at catching him with her clumsy boyfriend on her arm.

Gray really didn’t expect to have to talk about his feelings or deal with his crush on that night of all nights. He’d thought it would’ve been the perfect place to _avoid_ his problems, not run right into them. Now he was just going to have Lyon stuck in his head like usual and there was nothing he could do to stop it…though it didn’t hurt to try as one look at the dark and light pair ahead of him brought a glimmer of hope back to Gray. Sting and Rogue were definitely not the prying type, or at least he assumed so considering he’d only ever spoken to Rogue a few times since Sting introduced him to the group a month ago, but back then he was still in the friendzone with the blonde and wasn’t too confident around the group.

“Hey wait up!” Gray called out, catching the two’s attention as they looked back and halted, and Gray picked up the pace until he caught up.

“Hey man, everything alright?” Sting asked as the three of them began to skate on again.

“Yeah, just wanted to talk since it’s been a while,” Gray responded, and while it was a partial lie, it wasn’t entirely untrue considering he hadn’t spoken to Sting one on one since the year before.

“It really has been a long time, huh? I never think about these things until they hit me in the face,” Sting said, and Gray nodded.

“So how’s life going for you then?” Gray questioned, and he was thankful when the blonde jumped straight into the interesting life he leads, making Gray’s seem so dull in comparison, because now he had a solid distraction.

“…And that’s when Rogue showed up at the store to ask to borrow a flashlight, like can you imagine if the mall didn’t have that power out? I’d probably never have met him,” Sting stated sometime later, and Gray had to admit, it was an insane chance.

“That is pretty insane, but I have to ask, how’d you get from there to here? Surely a flashlight can’t have sparked anything so soon,” Gray questioned, but Sting shook his head.

“Actually I’m pretty sure it was love at first sight for me so I couldn’t help but keep making up excuses to visit him at work, like I dunno about Rogue considering the first time I saw him I was so stunned by him that I tripped over and fell right into this pile of boxes I’d been stacking,” Sting replied, an unashamed grin on his face, which actually brought that first smile that Gray had ever seen on Rogue’s face.

“He must’ve looked pretty amazing considering you only had that flashlight to see him considering it’s not always the most flattering lighting,” Gray remarked.

“Yeah well Rogue looks beautiful in every lighting and outfit to me,” Sting said with a casual shrug, and Gray smiled at the light blush that was covering Rogue’s cheeks.

And then because Gray’s attention was on Rogue, he suddenly noticed something peculiar with the picture he was seeing. Rogue was holding on rather loosely to Sting now for somebody who hadn’t let go since they’d gotten on the ice, in fact, Rogue’s posture and stance was as still as a rock. And the more Gray stared and thought about this, the clearer it all became and he couldn’t help but say something.

“Hey Rogue, do you skate a lot?” Gray asked, and this certainly seemed to surprise Rogue, his eyes widening for just the briefest of moments before Sting shook his head.

“Nah, Rogue’s not a fan of sports of any kind, I mean, in case you haven’t noticed, he’s been stuck on my arm since we got on the ice,” Sting explained, and Gray tried his best to hide his smile and feign ignorance.

“Oh I see, it’s just I couldn’t help but notice that he hasn’t been shaking or lost his balance at all, in fact his grip seems pretty loose, so I just figured maybe he’d done this before,” Gray responded, and now that it was out in the open and Sting had a moment to think about this, while Rogue seemed to be having an internal panic, Gray felt his work there was done as Sting turned to Rogue.

“Did you lie just so you could hold onto me all night?” 

Gray smiled as he skated on ahead, only just catching the last of the conversation as he made his way towards Erza and Jellal.

“Jeez you always burn up so quickly when you do these things, just tell me next time, ok?”

And that was the last he heard before he caught up with the red headed girl and her boyfriend as they skated slowly along hand in hand.

“Hey guys,” Gray greeted, and Erza seemed happy to see him.

“Hello Gray, have you come to skate with us into the new year?” She asked, and Gray found himself thoroughly confused until he looked at the clock above the rink, which told him that there was only a few minutes to go until midnight.

“Oh, yeah sure,” Gray said, and Erza nodded contently.

“A wise choice, though I apologise if we make you feel uncomfortable when the clock strikes.” And Gray’s mood plummeted at the thought of all his friend sharing that special kiss while he endured it alone.

“Don’t apologise, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me or anything.”

“I didn’t mean to sound like I was pitying you, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel excluded or ignored.”

“It’s fine, it’s something I’m gonna have to get used to after all,” Gray said, and while Erza seemed as though she wanted to dispute this, she didn’t have the time as the sound of Lucy’s voice rang out across the rink.

“Thirty seconds guys!” 

The group then skated to the centre and shared some final and hopeful smiles for the year, which only brought back some memories for Gray. The image of their original group consisting of himself, Natsu, Erza and Lucy and how they’d always meet up and make their promises of everlasting friendship. But not that year, they were growing up and had more important things to worry about, like jobs and relationships. Gray felt so behind.

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Happy New Year!” The group cheered before doing the most unexpected thing.

Before Gray could even think of turning away from what he thought would be an uncomfortable sight, he was pulled into a warm and tight group hug. And it was apparent that the look of absolute surprise on Gray’s face was noticeable as he felt Natsu’s arm pull him in tighter, that bright grin on his face.

“What? You didn’t seriously think we’d leave you out, did you?” And it took Gray a moment to finish processing it all before he smiled at the idiotic boy smiling at him.

“I figured you’d all be too busy being all stupid and romantic with each other to notice your favourite brooder over here,” Gray replied playfully, and Natsu laughed.

It was a nice sight, just being wrapped up with his friends as they all laughed and talked just like they all did only a year before when they had less worries and distractions.

And that was the last cherished memory he had of the group from that year as soon after, the group called it a night and headed home until their next meeting, but not before thanking Gray for everything.

Gray however stayed behind, deciding to make the most of the empty rink once more. It had been a while since he’d felt such conflicting emotions when he was on the ice. Usually it was just all negative and heavy, his feelings and doubts regarding his crush piling up on him, but that night he also felt a pure joy fighting for centre stage within him. And so, deciding to just let his body decide on the mood for the night, he began to skate.

He’d been going for nearly an hour, trying out as many tricks and spins as he could manage, feeling proud that he still had it, when he suddenly felt a presence. He grinded to a halt the moment that familiar presence took over him, his head whipping round to the entrance of the rink where he saw Lyon leaning on the barrier, an impressed look on his face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I came here to practice but I see you beat me to it,” Lyon said, and Gray suddenly felt embarrassed. He’d never _actually_ skated in front of Lyon before, simply choosing to talk himself up out of the sheer lack of confidence he had to show the older boy.

“I was just messing around since my friends were here earlier so I didn’t get to practice at my usual time, that wasn’t me being serious before you say anything,” Gray stated, feeling the need to defend himself.

“I wasn’t going to say anything bad if that’s what you thought, you were better than half the professionals I’ve seen,” Lyon responded before he opened the gate and slid easily onto the ice and over to Gray.

“I’d rather you just tell me I’m bad instead of lying, y’know?” Gray said, averting his gaze to the floor as he stuffed his hands in his pockets once more.

“I’m not lying, I wouldn’t lie to you Gray because you’re serious about this, so if you were bad, I’d let you know so you can improve, but you don’t need to do that since you’ve clearly been doing this as long as I have.”

“Yeah well just because I’ve been doing this a long time doesn’t mean anything, I’ve met people who’ve done this for a month and are just as good,” Gray argued, not daring to look up.

“Oh I highly doubt that, I’ve been watching you since you first told me you could skate circles around me and I’ve never seen anybody that quite compares,” Lyon replied casually, and Gray felt a pang in his chest, his eyes widening but his head still remained facing down.

“I had to be careful of course, I knew if you saw me then you’d stop, that much was obvious from all the times you gave me excuses to avoid skating against me,” Lyon continued, and Gray felt himself clench his fist and grit his teeth. Was Lyon just saying all this to mess with him or was he being serious? Either way, he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon with it.

“Is this going somewhere Lyon? I mean I’ve come here almost every night and I’ve never seen you come back once for extra practice, so what’re you really doing here?” Gray asked, his head finally lifting so his eyes were locked with Lyon’s.

“I’ll tell you if you skate with me.” 

Gray was speechless.

“I get the feeling that we’d be a good pair on the ice so what do you say?” Lyon offered once more, and while Gray wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of possibly embarrassing himself in front his crush, he figured he wasn’t going to get another opportunity to prove himself and be this close to the older boy again. Not with that special kind of atmosphere anyway.

“Fine but your reason better be a good one or else,” Gray muttered as he turned and put a little more distance between the two.

“Or else what?” Lyon challenged, and Gray let out an irritated huff.

“Is there a certain song you want to do this to or is this just a chance for you to show off on your own?”

But Lyon didn’t respond as he simply smiled and left the rink once more, disappearing to the office where they played the daily playlist for the customers in the daytime. Soon there was music and while Gray didn’t recognise it, he could tell it was a good song to skate to. It was soft and piano led at first but soon the pace picked up fairly quickly as Lyon returned and skated back beside Gray.

And just like they’d ever rehearsed it before, they took off and started to follow the quick pace of the music, showing off wherever they could. They jumped and spun and kept to their respected side of the rink before the song reached it peak and they seemingly had the same idea, meeting in the centre. This was when the time for showing off their footwork came into play, skating backwards in sync, side by side and then as if they were simply stepping back on the solid ground.

It was from here that they began to work around each other, skating around and with each other. And Gray didn’t even hesitate when Lyon met him, hand outstretched at the very peak and final, most passionate note of the song, accepting it and letting the older boy spin him a few times before pulling him close, one hand tangled with Gray’s and the other holding him by the lower back.

Then there was only the sound of their heavy breaths in the silent rink.

They were so close and Gray’s heart was beating so loudly as they simply stared at each other, like they were finally seeing the real version of each other for the first time in a year. All that tension and back and forth they’d been drowning in just washed away, as if it had all been drained away into the ice. And Gray had to swallow hard before he found his voice again, though he almost didn’t want to have it back as long as he could just keep feeling Lyon’s hand in his own.

“Um you said you’d uh tell me what you were doing here, right?” Gray said, feeling like he had to ask or just say _something_ before he did something stupid. 

And when Lyon leant in close to his ear and spoke, Gray felt his heart stop for just a second.

“I came to see you Gray.”

Gray didn’t even need to ask why or how he knew to come here, it was obvious, even to an oblivious idiot like Gray. It was simply just a lot to take in and he didn’t know what to say back as Lyon leant back before he looked up at the clock.

“That clock’s always been behind and it’s always annoyed me, but I think this is the one time I’ll let it go, after all, it says it’s midnight now so it’s New Year for us again,” Lyon said, and Gray knew exactly where he was going with this and now that his heart was beginning to quieten down and his body was returning back to his control, he wasn’t nervous or too afraid to go for it.

“That’s pretty convenient for me, I mean, I never got my New Years kiss…” Gray trailed off as a playful smile came onto his face.

And Lyon didn’t waste another second before closing that small gap between them, kissing Gray with a passion that had been building for a year. 

Just for one night and just for those two in that one ice rink, New Years Eve came twice and Gray would never have another year quite like that one.


End file.
